Cops shoot 1 of 2 boys cited in school break-in

June 15, 2009

The pellet gun discarded on a stairway landing inside Whittier Elementary School that police said a youthful burglary suspect aimed at them before he was shot in the leg by an officer. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune)

Two teenage boys were cited in connection with a break-in at a Near West Side elementary school this morning, where Chicago police shot a boy who aimed a rifle at them, police said tonight.

One boy, 13, was cited in a juvenile delinquency petition for burglary and the other, 14, was cited for burglary and aggravated assault.

The break-in occurred at Whittier Elementary School, in the 1900 block of West 23rd Street.

Police at the shooting scene at Whittier Elementary School this morning. (Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune)

Answering a burglar alarm at Whittier at about 4:30 a.m., police found a 14-year-old boy and his 13-year-old brother in the third floor computer room. The school went on summer vacation Friday.

Police said they ordered the 14-year-old boy to drop the gun, but instead he aimed it at them. Though the boy did not fire the gun, an officer fired one shot, wounding the boy in the leg, police spokesman Roderick Drew said.

The gun, which resembled a shotgun, was actually a black BB/pellet gun, Drew said.

The wound did not disable the boy, who ran down a staircase, throwing the gun near a radiator on the first floor.

The boy escaped, and police think he was driven away by a third person, other police sources said. Apparently after getting out of that car several blocks away, the boy was arrested by police near West Cullerton Street and South Damen Avenue. The younger boy was grabbed outside the building.

Independent Police Review Authority spokesman Mark Payne said the agency is investigating the shooting. The 14-year-old was taken to an area hospital, treated and released on Monday, police said. Both boys are scheduled to appear in Juvenile Court on Tuesday.